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Question: I have an ASRock INTEL ICH5 south bridge based motherboard (P4i65GV, P4i48..). In BIOS setup---IDE Configuration---Onboard IDE Operate Mode, there are two options "Enhanced Mode" and "Compatible Mode". Which one should I select? What is the difference between them?(7/12/2004) Answer: Please select [Compatible Mode] if you are using legacy OS (Windows ME / 98SE) with both IDE and SATA devices. If you are using legacy OS (Windows ME / 98SE) with IDE device only, please select [Enhanced Mode]. If native OS (Windows 2000 / XP) is used, please select [Enhanced Mode] no matter you are using either IDE and SATA devices or IDE device only.
When [Enhanced Mode] is selected, the next option will be "OnBoard IDE Controller".
You may enable either the primary IDE channel or the secondary IDE channel. Or you may enable both the primary and the secondary IDE channels by selecting [Both]. Set to [Disabled] will disable the both. Configuration options: [Disabled], [Primary], [Secondary], [Both].
When [Compatible Mode] is selected, the next option will be "Combined Mode Option".
It allows you to select between [Pri IDE + SATA] and [SATA + Sec IDE]. If it is set to [Pri IDE + SATA], then the secondary IDE will not work. Likewise, if it is set to [SATA + Sec IDE], then the primary IDE will not work.